Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2012 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 6 Articles
As obesity and being overweight continue to increase in the United States, public concern is growing about the\r\nquality of American diets. We compare the changes in nutrients contributed by major food groups in the periods\r\n1953-1980 and 1981-2008 and find that there is reduced cholesterol intake and increased calcium intake, but the\r\nlevels of food energy and total fats increase substantially. To understand how economic factors affect the overall\r\nnutritional quality of American diets, we estimate a complete food demand system and conduct a nutrient\r\ndemand analysis. Among our findings, we conclude that some price manipulations such as subsidizing fruits and\r\nvegetables could be effective to increase produce consumption, but the effects of taxing fats to reduce the\r\nconsumption of fats could be limited. Increasing income would improve intakes of nutrients such as calcium and\r\nvarious vitamins (likely now insufficient), but intakes of nutrients such as energy, saturated fats, and cholesterol\r\n(likely now excessive) would also rise with increased income....
Appropriate nutrition is an essential prerequisite for effective improvement of athletic\r\nperformance, conditioning, recovery from fatigue after exercise, and avoidance of injury.\r\nNutritional supplements containing carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals have been\r\nwidely used in various sporting fields to provide a boost to the recommended daily allowance. In\r\naddition, several natural food components have been found to show physiological effects, and some\r\nof them are considered to be useful for promoting exercise performance or for prevention of\r\ninjury. However, these foods should only be used when there is clear scientific evidence and with\r\nunderstanding of the physiological changes caused by exercise. This article describes various\r\n\"functional foods\" that have been reported to be effective for improving exercise performance or\r\nhealth promotion, along with the relevant physiological changes that occur during exercise....
The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the\r\ncurrent study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people\r\nexercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly\r\nselected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2ââ?¬â??40.5) of\r\nparticipants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age.Men and younger\r\nexercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and\r\nolder exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An\r\nappropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional\r\nsupplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city....
Nutritional depletion has been demonstrated to be a major determinant of the development of\r\npost-operative complications. Gastrointestinal surgery patients are at risk of nutritional depletion\r\nfrom inadequate nutritional intake, surgical stress and the subsequent increase in metabolic rate.\r\nFears of postoperative ileus and the integrity of the newly constructed anastomosis have led to\r\ntreatment typically entailing starvation with administration of intravenous fluids until the passage of\r\nflatus. However, it has since been shown that prompt postoperative enteral feeding is both effective\r\nand well tolerated. Enteral feeding is also associated with specific clinical benefits such as reduced\r\nincidence of postoperative infectious complications and an improved wound healing response.\r\nFurther research is required to determine whether enteral nutrition is also associated with\r\nmodulation of gut function.\r\nStudies have indicated that significant reductions in morbidity and mortality associated with\r\nperioperative Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) are limited to severely malnourished patients with\r\ngastrointestinal malignancy. Meta-analyses have shown that enteral nutrition is associated with\r\nfewer septic complications compared with parenteral feeding, reduced costs and a shorter hospital\r\nstay, so should be the preferred option whenever possible.\r\nEvidence to support pre-operative nutrition support is limited, but suggests that if malnourished\r\nindividuals are adequately fed for at least 7ââ?¬â??10 days preoperatively then surgical outcome can be\r\nimproved.\r\nOngoing research continues to explore the potential benefits of the action of glutamine on the gut\r\nand immune system for gastrointestinal surgery patients. To date it has been demonstrated that\r\nglutamine-enriched parenteral nutrition results in reduced length of stay and reduced costs in\r\nelective abdominal surgery patients. Further research is required to determine whether the routine\r\nsupplementation of glutamine is warranted.\r\nA limitation for targeted nutritional support is the lack of a standardised, validated definition of\r\nnutritional depletion. This would enable nutrition support to be more readily targeted to those\r\nsurgical patients most likely to derive significant clinical benefit in terms of improved post-operative\r\noutcome....
The benefits and risks of nutritional therapies in the prevention and management of infectious\r\ndiseases in the developed world are reviewed. There is strong evidence that early enteral feeding\r\nof patients prevents infections in a variety of traumatic and surgical illnesses. There is, however,\r\nlittle support for similar early feeding in medical illnesses. Parenteral nutrition increases the risk of\r\ninfection when compared to enteral feeding or delayed nutrition. The use of gastric feedings\r\nappears to be as safe and effective as small bowel feedings. Dietary supplementation with glutamine\r\nappears to lower the risk of post-surgical infections and the ingestion of cranberry products has\r\nvalue in preventing urinary tract infections in women....
A great deal of research has pointed to deleterious roles of metal ions in the development of\r\nAlzheimer''s disease. These include: i) the precipitation and aggregation of amyloid (A) peptides\r\nto form senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and/or ii) the augmentation of oxidative stress by\r\nmetal ion mediated production and activation of hydrogen peroxide. The growing trend in\r\nnutraceutical intake is in part a result of the belief that they postpone the development of dementias\r\nsuch as Alzheimer''s disease. However, pathogenic events centred on metal ions are expected to\r\nbe aggravated by frequent nutraceutical intake. Novel therapeutic approaches centred on chelators\r\nwith specificity for copper and iron ions should be fully explored....
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